A Volcanoes + National Park visit tour by Hawaii Forest and Trail. Back to all tours.
Tour Summary: The most in-depth volcano experience on the Island of Hawaii! A national park certified guide shares a mix of natural and cultural history about the island’s formation, illuminating the stories behind the ever-changing landscape of our island home.
Large photoDrive off-road to a private lava tube known for its bright yellow and gold microbial mats living on and accenting the cave walls. Image credit: Hawaii Forest & Trail
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Lava tubes can become otherworldly places. The cave you will visit has expansive rooms and an “upside down” forest of roots hanging from the cave ceiling. Image credit: Hawaii Forest & Trail
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Enjoy 2-3 miles of hiking around the park’s most dynamic terrain. Image credit: Hawaii Forest & Trail
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Learn how lava fields get colonized by the local plants. Image credit: Hawaii Forest & Trail
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Learn how lava fields get colonized by the local plants. Image credit: Hawaii Forest & Trail
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The tour guides are expert natural interpreters, and will teach you many interesting things about the volcanoes. Image credit: Hawaii Forest & Trail
Tour Highlights:
- On this in-depth park experience, your interpretive guide will illuminate the historic events that recently changed the landscape of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park forever.
- Enjoy 2-3 miles of hiking around the park’s most dynamic terrain
- Drive off-road to a private lava tube known for its bright yellow and gold microbial mats living on and accenting the cave walls. This lava tube is only accessible to Hawaii Forest & Trail guests
- Enjoy late afternoon pupu (appetizers) on the farm surrounding our exclusive lava tube.
Important: Bring comfortable walking shoes, long pants, and a light jacket. Guests should be able to hike on uneven or rocky terrain (2 to 3 miles total hiking).
Tour Information:
| Price: | Adult | Youth |
|---|---|---|
| (excluding booking fee) | $225 | $200 |
Tour Provider: Hawaii Forest and Trail
Activity: Volcanoes + National Park visit
Tour start time: 6:50 am
Duration: 12 hours
Departure from: Kailua Kona
Pick-up available? Yes! From several locations between the Hawaii Forest & Trail headquarters in Kona and the Waikoloa resorts. More details available during the booking process during the "Where are you staying" step.
Included: Breakfast snacks, beverages, lunch, afternoon appetizers, National Park entrance fees, and water, are included.
Cancellations: Cancellations: Customers will receive a full refund with 48 hours notice of cancellation. Private tours: Customers will receive a full refund with 72 hours notice of cancellation. Cancellations within the cancellation period and “no-shows” will be charged the FULL AMOUNT of the tour.
Read more: about volcanoes on the Love Big Island website in our volcanoes guide.
The most in-depth volcano experience on the Island of Hawaii is back! Learn about the natural and cultural history of the volcanoes and about the island’s formation. A National Park Certified Guide will share a mix of illuminating the stories behind the ever-changing landscape of our island home during this 12 hour tour exclusively focused on volcanoes!
After a convenient pickup from select hotels on the Kona and Waikoloa coast you take a scenic drive on Saddle Road to the famous Hawaii Volcanoes National park for exploration and lunch. In the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park you visit the Kilauea Crater which was dramatically transformed in 2018 by the recent lava flows towards Fissure 8 and violent seismic activity in the area. This tour includes 2-3 miles of hiking around the park to explore on foot and get up close to the volcanic landscape. Your guide will explain what happened to the park and what it was like before it was forced to close in April 2018.
Afterwards you explore Kauhi cave, a magical lava tube with ceilings as high as 35 feet known for its bright yellow and gold microbial mats living on and accenting the cave walls, and finish with a pau hana (Hawaiian for “happy hour”) featuring locally-sourced appetizers.
Frequently Asked Questions:
You will hike for 2-3 miles at a location determined by park conditions that day.
Although there are currently no active eruptions in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and on Kilauea Volcano, active lava viewing conditions change daily or even hourly. See our lava viewing guide or the weekly USGS update here to see the current status of lava viewing on the Big Island.
Hawaii Forest & Trail is a highly respected local tour company that has operated on the Big Island since 1993. They have gained access to private and restricted lands and are widely recognized as a tour company that has passionate and knowledgeable interpretative guides, all of which translates into consistent stellar reviews from their past guests.
Hawaii Forest & Trail is fully certified by the Sustainable Tourism Association of Hawai’i. This means that their tours are eco-friendly, culturally educational and operate as sustainable as possible.
Knowledgeable Staff
The HFT staff are picked to have strong academic backgrounds in biology, geology, Hawaiian culture and history, and extensive natural history field experience. It’s not enough for the guides to simply “know things”, they must also have a real passion for Hawaii’s natural world and enthusiasm for sharing it.
Giving back to the community
The vision of Hawaii Forest & Trail is to share the splendor of Hawai’i and inspire a deep connection with our natural world. They donate a small amount ($1 per guest) to a fund that makes donations to non-profit organizations whose mission and work aligns with at least one of the following criteria:
- benefits the conservation of Hawaii’s native ecosystems, species and landscapes.
- promulgates the understanding and practice of Hawaiian culture and the dissemination and understanding of Hawaii’s natural and cultural history.
- promotes and facilitates an appreciation and interaction with nature, especially programs that are youth oriented.
It is the intent of the fund to give preference to entities who are based or whose work is performed in the communities where they operate tours.
We are affiliate partners with Hawaii Forest and Trail meaning that we receive a percentage for each successful booking made through our website. This happens without any additional charge to you! (read more on the use of those links on our website here).
By booking tours through our website you support LoveBigIsland.com and help us to provide you and future visitors with free and high quality information about the Big Island. Thanks, you guys are amazing!